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Developmental screening - long post
Kari
Posts: 1,765
I feel like I've shared so much with some of you ladies (and men) over the years that I'm leaving something out by not sharing this. After looking at Justin's sensory issues, ADHD, anxiety, not recognizing his letters despite being pretty intelligent, and some other odd behavioral quirks, his pediatrician referred us to a developmental pediatrician. After a few months of waiting to get in, I saw her last week with Justin for intake. I actually typed a 9-page document listing all kinds of issues I saw going on, categorized into different sections of concern. And I brought samples of his handwriting and drawings, and a 12-minute video of different negative behaviors I'd caught on camera.
This past week he had a 2-3 hour cognitive evaluation, and then a 1-hour communication/autism screening the following day. They don't normally share any results the day of the screening, but because I'm a teacher the psychologist figured I was somewhat familiar with some of the data (not really - I don't attend IEPs). Anyway, I don't have clear results yet because the psychologist has to talk to the developmental pediatrician to share their findings, then the dev. pedi will meet with me to discuss their diagnosis.
The cognitive testing showed just what I had noted: that he seemed really intelligent but just couldn't learn his letters or skim a room for an object and locate it. His fine motor skills are really, really poor if he's being asked to draw a specific thing, but okay if he's just free drawing. It's like it takes an immense amount of concentration for him to translate what he's seeing (i.e., a letter T) and then get it down on paper. Even then, he will often write one line on one part of the paper, and another line somewhere else (not connecting the two parts of the T). He repeated this error when building blocks into patterns she was giving him. He would collect the right colored blocks that matched her picture of 8 blocks in a rectangle, but then he'd put four of them on one side of the table, and four on the other side, making two separate squares and not one rectangle. When he copies a word, he doesn't go left to right, but in any random order he wants to write the letters (not just the order he chooses to write them, but also their placement on the paper). Anyway, he scored in the 16th percentile for that task. I have no idea if that's an indicator of dyslexia or dysgraphia or what, but something's off. On a good note, he scored well above average on most parts of the test, even achieving the 99th percentile for verbal skills. So despite my plan to keep him back a year to give him a chance to catch up on the reading piece, she wants him to start K this year so he can start getting some support.
Then there was the autism screening. I figured he had no chance in testing positive. I work with kids on the spectrum every day, and he didn't remind me of any of them. Then she started pointing out things, like how when he's talking to me, he's talking to an object he's holding in his hands and doesn't look at me until he's done talking. Or how he had very delayed reactions to the part of the test where he was supposed to interpret an image's mood by its facial features. He got the right answer every time, but it was a labored process. And I mentioned that he can't tell when his sister or I am upset until we're yelling because he doesn't see the slow progression of annoyance or anger. He told me the other day that he has no personal bubble, which is why he's often in other people's personal space. The parts of the test that required creativity he refused to take. Anyway, the psychologist dodged my eye contact when I asked her point blank if we could rule out autism, and said she'd have to discuss the results with the pediatrician before making any diagnosis.
So right now I'm scrambling to get an agreement between the school district where we live and the one where I work so he can go to the school I teach at, while feeling somewhat deceptive because I'm suspecting he might get a diagnosis that I'm not disclosing yet.
I think many of you know as well that Justin has several issues with chemicals in our food system, and these may be contributing factors to everything that's taking place as well. There's just so many comingling issues going on that it's difficult to tell most days what's causing the behaviors.
This past week he had a 2-3 hour cognitive evaluation, and then a 1-hour communication/autism screening the following day. They don't normally share any results the day of the screening, but because I'm a teacher the psychologist figured I was somewhat familiar with some of the data (not really - I don't attend IEPs). Anyway, I don't have clear results yet because the psychologist has to talk to the developmental pediatrician to share their findings, then the dev. pedi will meet with me to discuss their diagnosis.
The cognitive testing showed just what I had noted: that he seemed really intelligent but just couldn't learn his letters or skim a room for an object and locate it. His fine motor skills are really, really poor if he's being asked to draw a specific thing, but okay if he's just free drawing. It's like it takes an immense amount of concentration for him to translate what he's seeing (i.e., a letter T) and then get it down on paper. Even then, he will often write one line on one part of the paper, and another line somewhere else (not connecting the two parts of the T). He repeated this error when building blocks into patterns she was giving him. He would collect the right colored blocks that matched her picture of 8 blocks in a rectangle, but then he'd put four of them on one side of the table, and four on the other side, making two separate squares and not one rectangle. When he copies a word, he doesn't go left to right, but in any random order he wants to write the letters (not just the order he chooses to write them, but also their placement on the paper). Anyway, he scored in the 16th percentile for that task. I have no idea if that's an indicator of dyslexia or dysgraphia or what, but something's off. On a good note, he scored well above average on most parts of the test, even achieving the 99th percentile for verbal skills. So despite my plan to keep him back a year to give him a chance to catch up on the reading piece, she wants him to start K this year so he can start getting some support.
Then there was the autism screening. I figured he had no chance in testing positive. I work with kids on the spectrum every day, and he didn't remind me of any of them. Then she started pointing out things, like how when he's talking to me, he's talking to an object he's holding in his hands and doesn't look at me until he's done talking. Or how he had very delayed reactions to the part of the test where he was supposed to interpret an image's mood by its facial features. He got the right answer every time, but it was a labored process. And I mentioned that he can't tell when his sister or I am upset until we're yelling because he doesn't see the slow progression of annoyance or anger. He told me the other day that he has no personal bubble, which is why he's often in other people's personal space. The parts of the test that required creativity he refused to take. Anyway, the psychologist dodged my eye contact when I asked her point blank if we could rule out autism, and said she'd have to discuss the results with the pediatrician before making any diagnosis.
So right now I'm scrambling to get an agreement between the school district where we live and the one where I work so he can go to the school I teach at, while feeling somewhat deceptive because I'm suspecting he might get a diagnosis that I'm not disclosing yet.
I think many of you know as well that Justin has several issues with chemicals in our food system, and these may be contributing factors to everything that's taking place as well. There's just so many comingling issues going on that it's difficult to tell most days what's causing the behaviors.
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Keep in mind that no matter what he is your baby, and he always will be. Labels are a means to an end, and that end is greater supports and more success. Labels don't define the child. He is who he is going to be, no matter what any label says. Finding a direction in which to head will at least give you a start.
Lucky Cycle 14: IVF!! Antagonist Cycle with Lupron Trigger